epicrapbattlesofhistoryfandomcom-20200222-history
User blog:TKandMit/"Shocking News" - Danganwiki: Convention Carnage
Jason was tense, pale in the face and clenching his jaw. As he explained the details of the autopsy to Flatts and myself, I noticed him grinding his teeth. It was very clear that he was furious but terrified, not knowing what to do and frustrated with the case. I still didn’t know the extent of his relationship with the victims, but it was evident that their deaths stirred him up. “So all in all, 27 slashes. No doubt from the scalpel found at the scene of the crime,” he let out a deep sigh and paused for a minute. “The scalpel, of course, coming from the infirmary. Someone must have broken in and stole it to carry out the murder.” Jason looked unnerved that a tool he was so familiar with was used to kill someone so close to them. “The cuts across the wrists were… well, across, not vertical. If you want your victim to bleed out quickly, you would go down the length of the veins. The cuts were deep, though, and all of them seemed rather... erratic. Not meticulous or careful whatsoever. Just multiple deep, careless gashes across. It seems to me that the killer was in a hurry, but may have wanted them to suffer for some time.” “Hm,” Flatts murmured, considering the new information. “Anything else you found?” “Well, the cuts were certainly the worst of it. One thing I found incredibly disturbing were the severed Achilles’ tendons. Deep cuts that would have rendered the feet useless and would have immobilized the Stars. The vast pool of blood suggests they put up a fight, trying to crawl away to safety or perhaps struggling with their killer. Other than that, other gruesome cuts included several across the chest, the stomach, the back of the right knee, and erm, one across the throat.” He paused and exhaled again. “If I had to guess, that was the last one.” “The last one?” I asked, confused. “If you were gonna kill someone as brutally as that, wouldn’t you want to make sure they kept silent? I know they were far away from all our rooms but still, why would the killer give them that chance to scream for help?” “Some sick bastard, I’m guessing,” Jason spat through gritted teeth. “Whoever it is wanted them to suffer; probably got off to their crying.” Flatts agreed. “Those walls are thick concrete, and if the doors were all closed then the noise from the screams would have just bounced off and stayed contained within the gym for the most part. Not much would have traveled, I think.” “Sheesh,” I whispered. Jason cleared his throat. “Another thing I wanted to mention is that the Stars were alone for some time, too. They had five shocks in total.” “One of which being the first one, when Avery and I got shocked our first morning here?” I asked. “Yes, that’s right. The others all came from last night. What upsets me here is that, unlike the rest of us, the shocks have a significantly worse effect on Maven and the Stars. I believe it acts as an incredibly traumatizing trigger, and as we saw with Avery, it sent him into dormancy as the other personalities came to the front. With every new shock after this, it must’ve done the same thing; triggering each one so bad they went dormant.” “Five shocks later, there’s… no one else left to shock. Right?” Flatts asked, taking in the disturbing new details. Jason nodded, “All of them would be dormant, not strong enough to come back. Not even Avery, who’s been dormant for days. After the killer made sure their victim couldn’t move, I think they left and let the Stars writhe in pain. The shocks ticked by and added to the horror they were facing. One by one, the Stars went away which must have only terrified the ones to come.” I shook my head, biding time to think of a response. One of us really did all of this to them? What he was describing was just horrible to think of, and to imagine it happening to someone he was close to was devastating. “...I’m sorry, Jason.” He looked at me and hesitated before swallowing his thoughts. “...Thank you, Matt. And I meant what I said before. I will find out who did this. The sick bastard needs to rot for what they did.” After we thanked Jason, Flatts and I walked together to their podium as others began to pour in. It wasn’t long before everyone was corralled to the auditorium. Axel had arrived with Jason but took his spot and avoided our conversation. Asier and Erik walked in, the white nationalist shooting a nasty glare at Axel; the wrestler snorted like a bull back at him. The others wordlessly took their positions, everyone appearing to be uneasy with the task at hand. I noticed Rae walking in with their eyes almost completely shut, no doubt still exhausted from their rough night. Looking at Avery’s podium, we all noticed a chilling addition: a portrait of the deceased standing where they once stood, a match to Jeffrey and Jamahl’s portraits. Four pink Xs painted over the cult leader’s visage, mocking the Stars. Before I left Flatts to stand at my podium, they tugged on my arm and whispered to me. “You think Jason’s okay?” I pondered for a second, thinking about the question. “I… don’t know. He and the Stars were close, so I get why he feels the way he does. Mindy was so grateful for Jamahl and she was distraught too. But I still hate all of this. We’re stronger in numbers if we’re gonna fight HAL and escape, but we’re losing so many people so quickly.” “He wants blood, Matt. He’s not the same as he was. And to be honest, he’s been creeping me out lately. He’s on edge and troubled.” “I think we’re all a little on edge and troubled.” Flatts broke eye contact with me and looked to the floor below them. “Yeah, but I’m just saying. He’s a valuable friend to have here. We can’t have him give in, and give whoever’s behind this what they want. If he, or any of us, start playing into their hands then it makes it even worse for us.” I got their message loud and clear and nodded in agreement. Leaving them, I went to take my position at my podium. Alright… let’s get this over with. That damned intercom clicked on again. “Welcome again, my VIPs,” HAL spoke, his red eye glowing on the televisions in the auditorium, menacing as ever. “We are gathered here today to solve the mystery of who murdered our beloved Ultimate Cult Leader, Avery Maven the Thirteenth. One of you is responsible, but who? Be careful arriving to an answer; all your lives depend on it. You may now begin.” HAL’s intercom clicked off. “So we’re back here again,” Neo noted. “That we are,” Cynthia added. “Fucking hated this the first time,” Asier grumbled, holding a hand to his still aching head. “Who did it?! Be a man and ‘fess up.” Axel slammed a fist on his podium. “Don’t even start that shit, Nazi. You did it!” “Says who? You, Roid Rage? Or your emo fleshlight?” Asier gestured to Flatts. “‘Cause it wasn’t fucking me.” “Convince us!” Flatts interrupted. “You said you went to the gym to work out and that’s how you found the body. But why were you trying to clean the murder weapon? What do you have to gain from messing with the evidence?” “Told you it ain’t none of your business,” said Asier. “That’s not good enough!” Flatts screamed back, at their wit’s end with Asier’s irreverence. “If I may,” Erik budged in, “I find it unlikely that Asier would be able to pull off the murder in his condition. His ankle is still recovering from when Jamahl tackled him and twisted it. To be able to overpower another man, one as quick and as strong as Maven, and inflict as much damage as there was, is unlikely to me.” “A twisted ankle?” Mindy laughed at the conspiracy theorist immediately to her left. “Oh boo hoo. He’s a big boy, he could take that twink any day of the week.” Erik asked her what a twink was. “For the last time,” Jason broke through and snapped our attention to him. His face was crooked with a scowl aimed at Erik. “It was not Avery. The man we saw who challenged HAL, hide a knife up his sleeve and sling it at that speaker, the man alleged to be some monster… that was not the man who was killed here. That body, that vessel for a total of five separate identities, is what was murdered. One--maybe all of the Stars--were targeted. They don’t--they didn’t have that same combat expertise. They were women, victims of that cult. Feeble girls who needed help and got THIS!” “You’re a fool if you still believe any of that bullshit,” Erik scoffed. “Even more if you think Asier’s guilty.” “Don’t worry, Erik. I don’t think he is,” the doctor cracked a small smile. “''You’re the killer.” Erik blinked and reeled back from the accusation, looking at the others before turning back to the doctor, waiting for an explanation. “Me? How would I-” “You’re the only one I can think of who had the motive. You wanted to rid the world of the evil that was Avery Maven. You’re the only one who didn’t believe the Stars were split personalities,” Jason’s nose flared and his eyes had pure hatred behind them. “Come to think of it… no, Asier did do it. With you giving him instructions. He was your tool and you were his mastermind. Some fat, old bastard like you, you were probably too chickenshit to do it yourself.” “Jason dear,” Cynthia called. “Don’t work yourself up too much.” “What gives you that suspicion?” Erik challenged. “Yes, I harbored mistrust for him. I was wise enough to warn you all, time and time again, not to trust a ''fucking cult leader. Sooner or later he was going to strike. After he had enough of your trust, after collecting enough of you to back him up, he’d convince you to execute those who didn’t trust him. He’d have this game at his fingertips. I’ve spent years studying what I can get my hands on of his family. The lore, the news reports, the close encounters. I know exactly what he was capable of and wanted you all to steer clear. Sybil or not. Why would I just let him take that chance? I don’t want anyone to die. I wouldn’t take it in my hands, that’s just not who I am. But I’m not sorry that he’s dead. Good!” Erik spat. “The world’s better off without him.” “What’s your defense,” Jason asked, more like a demand than a question. “You and Asier, you were never friends before this. But overnight, you two are buddy buddy. One of you is found at the scene of the crime and the other hasn’t left their side since. What am I to make of that?” “Nothing,” Asier barged in again. “He, Jake, and I spent all day and night in the cafe. While Jake was drinking, we were talking. We got to know each other a bit better. We actually have a few things in common.” “That’s true, Jason,” I supported. “Jake told me all about that earlier today.” “Yeppers,” Jake groaned, uninterested. “And like, dude,” Asier continued. “I just started talking to the guy. What do you think happened? Hey man, we’re friends now, let’s go kill that beta male that thinks he’s four chicks at once? Hell no, man. That ain’t how I roll. You wanna know what happened? I showed up at the gym and saw the dude was fucking dead. Oh fucking well. People die all the time. I’ve seen so much of it, shit doesn’t even phase me anymore. I ain’t gonna cry about it like one of you SJWs. This whole thing’s a game, right? And we’re just pawns here. So you know what I did? I took the game into my own hands, gave myself some control over the board. I made it more interesting! I took the scalpel and went to clean it in the men’s sink. I was gonna hide that shit in a locker and make this harder for you guys to figure out. And Christ, it’s not like what I did was even that bad. Some mentally ill douchebag, living off the grid in the mountains? Who gives a fuck?” “You and Rae, I swear to God…” Mindy was staggered from the confession, more annoyed than anything. Jason was seething, his nails digging into the wood of his podium. “You mother fucker.” “Jason,” Flatts tried to get the doctor’s attention. “As flimsy or insensitive as it is, it’s his alibi. And a crucial piece of evidence is in the blood. It was already dry when he got there, he didn’t have the time to clean it up before we found him. If he did kill them, hours before, he would have done a better job cleaning it all up.” “Finally, you’re starting to make some fucking sense,” Asier applauded. Cynthia turned to the white supremacist; her podium neighbor, “You are disgusting, you know that right?” He snickered in response. Jake yawned. “Ahhh, now that we’ve gotten that nasty business out of the way, I’d like to propose another suspect. I call Amy Mitten to the stand!” “What?” Amy asked as everyone turned to her. She groaned. “Ugh, Jake. Are you being serious right now?” “Deadly serious, Ms. Mitten. To our knowledge, you and Ms. Clementine were the last to be seen with Mr. Maven!” “Yeah, we got drunk together,” Vi stepped in to support her friend. “Evol left and they never came back.” Amy nodded. “And I don’t know when they did it, but they snatched one of my best lipsticks too. They went to Jason’s room and left some phony message saying how they went back to mine.” “Huh. Jason’s room, eh?” Neo mused, eyebrow cocked and smirking at the doctor. “They came to me in a moment of distress,” Jason explained. “In fact, I wasn’t even in my room at the time. I’d be alone and susceptible to the shocks, then. I was in Matt’s room with him, Axel, Cynthia, and Flatts. I was sitting in a chair by the door when I thought I started to hear my name being called. It was faint under the music playing but I thought I heard it and left immediately. I found them alone and ushered them into my room to help them. Time passed and I fell asleep, and I woke up to a shock and found that they were gone. I found that message, Jason, I went back to Amy’s room. Sorry. and just figured they wanted to drink some more.” “Which would have been fine if they did,” Amy clarified. “But they never showed up again. And don’t worry, you don’t have to take my word for it,” Amy pulled out her phone and began to tap away, her nails clicking on the screen. “I have solid evidence to prove that Vi and I had nothing to do with it,” Amy turned the screen to us as a video played. The security footage she showed me earlier, of course. Speeding through hours of the night, Amy described what happened on screen as Avery left Amy’s room and went directly across the hall and knocked on Jason’s door several times. Waiting for a few minutes, they then wandered down the hall out of view and did not return until they were accompanied by Jason, walking into his room. Fast forwarding another few hours later to 4:45 a.m., and Avery is seen leaving the room alone. In contrast to earlier, he is not wearing his brown collar shirt, only the white shirt underneath. Watching on, he walks down the hall and clearly not back to Amy’s room. Further activity is not captured until the morning when Cynthia and I regroup with Jason and leave to find Flatts and Axel. The others were surprised that such solid evidence was presented, but they began to nod their heads and accept it as fact. Despite them, Jake stood stubborn. “Yeah, I’m not buying that.” “Jake,” Amy groaned at her rival again. “It’s literally video evidence and clearly shows where Avery went.” “''Amy Mitten, the Ultimate Vlogger,” Jake reminded us. “You’re quite the talented video editor, yeah? Who’s to say you didn’t edit the footage to cut when he went back to your room?” “They didn’t,” Amy and Vi said at the same time, the former leaning closer to their podium, upset with the show host. “Jake, you know exactly what I wanted to do with this footage. You’re such a petty piece of shit that once I cut you out of it, you turned on me and want to blame me for this shit. What’s your game?” The others looked confused so Jake took the time to explain his side of the story. “Yeah, that’s right, guys. Amy here has these cameras and was planning on recording what happened here. If she makes it out of here, she’s gonna make a documentary about our suffering here.” “Bullshit,” Amy refuted. “I don’t know what story you’re trying to spin out of this, but I’m doing it to tell people what happened. I was going to interview everyone and get their stories for when we get out of this fucking place. I had this camera stationed outside my room as a safety net if anyone ever tried to kill me. Only you, Vi, and Negative knew.” The atmosphere seemed to change as most of us began to rally behind Amy’s cause. Jake looked upset until he smirked. “Fine, you win. But this doesn’t clear you by any means. Why would Avery lie? If he didn’t go to your room, where did he go? Isn’t it suspicious how he said he was gonna meet back up with you, and then he’s found dead?” “We’re talking in circles here,” Flatts mentioned. “I’ve already made my case,” Amy crossed her arms. “I have the most irrefutable evidence to prove me and Vi had nothing to do with it. I have no idea what happened to them. I wish I did. I wish I could do more here! In the time I knew them, they were decent. We became friends with Negative last night. I don’t know what Evol’s deal was and why they split, why they stole from me, but I had no ill will against any of them.” “You don’t have to do anymore, Ames,” Vi consoled her friend. “You’ve already showed amazing evidence to help this case.” “If the Stars didn’t go back to Amy’s room,” Jason began another hypothesis, “the only other logical explanation I can think of is that they got hungry. All that liquor, you know? Perhaps they were sick and needed food to aid it. They would have gone to the cafeteria, then. Where Asier, Erik, and Jake are. This may go even deeper than I thought,” Jason paused to point at the three. “Asier, the muscle. Erik, the motive. Jake, the brains who would pin it on someone else. All three of you are guilty.” “Again,” Flatts argued with the doctor’s argument, “I think if it was Asier, he wouldn’t have waited hours to return and clean up the murder scene.” “Could be a red herring within a red herring,” Cynthia offered. “Of course it’d be too obvious if Asier was the killer, so maybe he gave himself those hours to make him look somewhat innocent. Could have been the plot the three of them settled on.” “Fuckin’ idiots...” Asier put a hand to his aching head again. Flatts sighed loudly as they pinched the bridge of their nose. “Okay... so of our main suspects, Asier remains at the top, followed by his constituents Erik and Jake. Other than them, despite the evidence presented, Jake suggests the video can be a fake and that Amy and Vi are behind this. We keep cycling back and forth between arguments and we have to touch on somewhere else. I propose we clarify who among us are one-hundred percent innocent of this. Jason never left his room to follow the Stars after they left. I think if Amy really was the killer and edited the video, she would have at least thrown the blame on someone else to make us believe otherwise. But as the video is, Jason never left the room and so he is innocent in this scenario. Axel, Cynthia, Matt, and myself were all together in Matt’s room. Neo and Mindy were together in Mindy’s room, as they told me earlier. Rae spent the night completely alone, enduring hundreds of shocks.” Rae was softly snoozing, leaning on their podium with their head resting on their crossed arms. They snored loudly at the mention of their name. “Mhm. Sure did.” “You know,” Mindy spoke up, one of her eyebrows raised as she looked over Rae. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to gather up some shocks before doing something nefarious.” Flatts sighed. “What are you getting at, Mindy?” “It’ll take us forever to count how many shocks they actually have, and even longer to figure out the exact number of times the shocks could have happened. Every five minutes in the span of what, eighteen hours? As long as you have enough that we’ll believe you, then you can slip out at any time and get away with murder.” “I told you,” Rae groaned as they looked up at the Catholic girl. “I want nothing to do with any of you. I locked myself away for my own safety. It’d be foolish to injure myself and then pick a fight with someone.” “It was pretty fuckin’ foolish to endanger us like you did last trial,” Neo said. “Bite me,” Rae repeated their retort from earlier. I knocked gently on my podium to get their attention. “We’ll take your theory into consideration,” I said to Mindy before turning to the girl immediately to her right. “Amy, one thing I want to get back to is your video. Can you rewind to when Evol left your room?” “Sure thing,” she complied as she scrubbed through the timeline of the video. “Here at about 12:45 in the morning, we see her walk outside and knock on Jason’s door. She knocks a few times before looking panicked and walking off screen.” “How long was she outside, with no one?” I asked further. Amy turned the screen back to herself and looked closely at the timestamp in the bottom right corner. “Oh, looks like seven minutes or so. Then they come back with Jason.” “That’s over the five minutes!” Flatts’ eyes shot wide, looking back at me. “That means the Stars got shocked before they were attacked.” “Yes,” Jason sighed a deep sigh, clearly reluctant to expand on this revelation. “...When I found them in the hallway, Xim was the one fronting; distressed and crying. Like what happened to Avery a couple days ago, the shock they endured acted as a powerful negative trigger which sent Evol’s personality into dormancy.” “You knew about this, Jason?” I asked. “You didn’t mention it to Flatts and me before we started.” “I didn’t have time to explain something that didn’t change the facts of the murder,” the doctor stated as he locked eyes with me. “Xim was pushed to the front while Lucidus consoled Negative. She said she was torn up about Evol essentially dying from the shock. I guess she blamed herself for what happened. It was an unrelated incident that just so happened hours before someone targeted them.” “Sounds a little sketchy, doc,” Rae groaned, still groggy as they held their head above the podium in their hands. “Hm. Come to think of it, what was the murder weapon again?” “A scalpel,” Jason answered. “Like a surgeon’s?” Rae asked, tilting her head up to smile at the doctor. ''I don’t like the sound of this. “Rae, you cannot possibly be suggesti-” “Dr. Jason Cooper’s the killer,” Rae blurted out. “No,” he denied coldly. “I was close to them, yes. But I never left my room, I couldn’t have done that.” “Oh ho ho,” Jake laughed as he slung his arm over my shoulders and turned to me. “You believe this, Matt?” he snickered again, pulling back to his own podium. “Lemme get this straight, doc. Your door and Amy’s door are the only ones caught on tape and it’s made so perfectly clear that you guys never leave. What a coincidence!” Jake had another laughing fit. “Haha, oh, oh my God, that’s brilliant.” “What are you talking about, Pinstripes?” Cynthia heckled the laughing show host across from her. “Guys, it’s so fuckin’ obvious!” Jake cackled at us. “What is?” Amy asked, annoyed as ever with him. “Who did Avery sit with that morning?” Jake asked the room. “At breakfast, he was sitting with Dr. Cooper. Then later, he split off with the girls. Amy and Vi got him all nice and drunk before sending him off to the doc. Who knows what he did to him for all that time? But what matters is that Avery left, followed by him, maybe the girls too. Doesn’t really matter when Amy could have deleted all of that.” Amy groaned yet again. “You’re fuckin’ twisted, you know that?” “Don’t have a defense?” Jake asked. “My defense is that I didn’t edit anything!” she yelled. “Amy, Vi and I haven’t conspired anything, I assure you,” Jason stated. “I’ve kept my business to only a handful of you in our time here. The Stars were who I spent my time with most. Matt and Flatts secondly, to confide in information for the trials. I’ve barely spoken with Vi and Amy outside of these trials, much less plot a murder with them.” “Your room is directly across from hers,” Jake reminded us. “Any of these nights, the two of you could have linked up. You being a doctor and all, you know how to kill someone, I bet. All Amy had to do was record and erase the evidence.” Jake’s words were trampled by a loud groan coming from Axel. “Jake, man, why would she record anything in the first place?” Jake looked at the wrestler, sizing him up. “Oh c’mon, don’t tell me you’re buying this shit, Axe.” “If you’re just gonna delete it, what’s the point? Look, I’ve worked with Cooper on both autopsies now. I’ve seen firsthand how he works, how he acts. He’s not a killer, dude. He’s just a doctor. And a pretty damn good man, too. He cared about the Stars. Dude was practically crying when we were cleaning ‘em up.” “Crocodile tears,” Erik mumbled. “Shut the fuck up,” Axel turned to him. “You wanna know why I clocked you yesterday? ‘Cause I was a piece of shit to them--the Stars--just like you were. They proved what they were and I apologized for it. You think we were falling in some trap? That Avery was pulling all our strings, to do his bidding? That guy’s gone. He was around for what, a day and a half? He got himself shocked and went dormant, or whatever. Whatever happened to him doesn’t matter now. But those split personalities were real, dude. We felt for them. It’s called making friends. It’s called having some fucking compassion,” Axel turned back to Jake. “And Cooper; the only one here who’s a doctor, who has a fuckin’ stake in the medical field. He got so tight with them because he wanted to help them. That’s his job! So get the fuck off his back. You’re trying to spin some fuckin’ bullshit story out of this to make you look… less guilty? Or just smart? ‘Cause if you didn’t do it, I don’t get what your play is, Jake.” “Just tryin’ to get the scoop on the latest drama,” Jake said. “That’s my job.” “We’re back to talking in circles,” Flatts said to the show host. “Okay. If it satisfies you, let’s put a pin in it. Jason’s a suspect. Same as Amy and Vi. Same as you, Erik, and Asier,” Flatts looked at Mindy, who appeared to be waiting patiently. “And fine, Rae. Sure. Congratulations guys, we have seven suspects out of thirteen people.” I picked up on Flatts’ annoyance and continued their sentiments. “We need to cover new ground or we’ll never settle this argument. We have to get back to our alibis. Flatts, Cynthia, Axel, Jason, and myself were all in my room last night. That was until Jason left, and shortly after that, we all turned in. Come morning, Axel and Flatts left together and found the body. At this time, Cynthia, Jason, and I grouped up again and joined up. But during the night, we need to cover what everyone else was doing. Jake, Asier, and Erik were in the cafe. Rae was alone. Amy and Vi were together when the Stars never came back. After their disappearance, Jason was also left alone.” I turned to my left to look at Neo, then forward to Mindy. “You two, what were you up to last night?” Neo didn’t say anything, waiting for her to speak for him. Mindy cleared her throat. “Not a whole lot. After HAL announced this round’s motive, Neo ‘escorted’ me back to my room and we stuck together. Just talking and stuff.” “Nothing eventful happened?” I asked. “No one ever came by? Did you hear anyone walking outside?” “Don’t think so,” Mindy said. “My room’s on the second floor, remember? Everything that happened last night seems relevant to just the first floor. The victim and all the suspects were downstairs, afterall.” Mindy thought for a second. “Hell, I think Neo and I were the only ones upstairs all night, right?” She looked to him. “Uh, yeah, I think so?” Neo shrugged. “Let’s see. On the second floor is your room, Mindy, then Jeffrey’s, Cynthia’s, Jake’s, Flatts’, Axel’s, and Asier’s,” Neo scanned around, looking at the people he was listing off. “Well, Jeff’s dead, but yeah. The rest of y’all were downstairs, either in Matt’s, Amy’s, or Jason’s rooms or in the cafeteria all night.” “Oh dude,” Axel spoke up again. “You should mention, if you guys did come downstairs at any point, you would have had to cross past Amy’s camera. The stairs and the elevator are at the end of that hall, so if you came our way to do anything to Avery, you would have been caught on camera.” “Good observation,” Amy noted, impressed with the wrestler. “Yeah,” Flatts agreed. “Well, to me, that guarantees that Mindy and Neo had nothing to do with this.” “Could’ve edited it out,” Jake offered yet again. “If it happened, wouldn’t I want to keep that in?” Amy asked. “If I was the bad guy and they walked past my camera, I could’ve easily made them look guilty. If anything, this makes my evidence even more credible!” “She’s right,” I said. “Mindy and Neo are innocent, and by extension, have proven Amy’s statement to be true. This clears her, Vi, and Jason.” “Making the only suspects left Asier, Erik, Jake, and Rae,” the doctor finished. Asier looked frustrated and ready to yell at us again, but Flatts took the floor. “Still, it doesn’t make sense to commit a murder and not clean it up immediately.” “Who knows?” Axel asked. “I punched Erik ‘cause he was talking his shit about the Stars. Maybe that only motivated him to target them. Maybe they just wanted to get it done and didn’t think of cleaning up ‘til later. Hell, if all three of them were there, just walking around the scene of the crime for a while could have left more evidence than there’d be if they just F.O.’d immediately.” “I told you, I don’t want anyone to die,” Erik repeated his earlier testimony. “We didn’t plot shit, you fuckin’ dumbass,” spat Asier. “Really, I just drank a ton of whiskey until I blacked out,” Jake confessed. Rae scoffed. “I think we’re forgetting something here.” “Forgetting what?” Flatts asked. “Jason never left his room, that’s fine. There’s no way he could have done the murder himself. But it’s really weird how the Stars left his room and lied about where they were going. I mean, Jason was friends with them right? So why would they deceive him like that?” Rae smiled at the doctor. “Did you do something to make them act like that? Why didn’t they want to be around you anymore?” “I fail to see what that has to do with the case,” Jason defended himself. "No? Really?” Rae laughed to themself. “You’re not the least bit interested in what motivated your… ‘clients’ into getting the hell away from you? I mean, shit, they were in such a hurry they forgot their shirt.” “Xim was the one I was closest to,” Jason clarified. “Negative was a mess over what happened to Evol. I assume that it was Lucidus who left.” “That’s nice, but why did she leave? Why did she lie about it?” Rae repeated. “I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t want me to worry when I woke up to a shock. Maybe she wanted to do something else and didn’t want me to follow her.” Rae ignored Jason’s explanations. “Just say it. What are you hiding?” “''Nothing.” The tone of his voice was sharp, no doubt upset at Rae’s prodding. “Then what did you do the whole time? You guys were alone for four hours--their ''last four hours,” Jason swallowed as Rae continued their interrogation. “Something you did or said motivated them to leave and they got themselves killed! Don’t you feel at least a little guilty?” “''OF COURSE I DO!” he snapped. In a flash, his composure evaporated and his face was red as a beet, overwhelmed with anger, regret, and despair. His fingernails were digging into his podium again. “Yes… this whole fucking time I’ve been beating myself up over it. What could I have done differently? What could have kept them alive?!” “Whoa, doc,” Amy tried consoling her podium neighbor by putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, no one bla--” “Hands off!” He yelled as he grabbed her wrist and twisted it forward, the girl releasing a scream in response. From behind, Neo sprang and quickly grabbed the doctor’s other arm and pulled him to the ground. Axel rushed over and helped get Amy away from him before also holding the doctor down. “Dude, Jason, chill! What’s wrong?” Axel asked his friend. “Innocent people don’t lash out like that,” Rae added, eyeing me. “Enough, Rae,” Flatts commanded. “What do you know? Just get to it, already.” “I wish I knew,” Rae answered. “Clearly Jason knows what’s up. How about you ask him?” Looking back to the Ultimate Doctor, tears were streaming down his face. “I-I d-I di-I didn’t… I didn’t do it… I w-wouldn’t hurt them. I’m s-I’m s-sorry. I just wanted to help…” I walked to his side as the others got out of their podiums to see what was happening with him. Twisted between Neo and Axel, Jason was breaking down and muttering barely coherent sentences. “Jason, it’s okay,” I said. ''It’s not okay, none of this is. But just… work with me here. “Jason,” I repeated as he finally tilted his head up to look at me. “What happened?” “Xim… she was so upset, she… she and Negative and Lucidus and… well, they were so distraught with what happened to Evol, she was shocked and… she went dormant. She was like their sister and they were terrified. We talked and I tried- I tried to tell them that it was no one’s fault. Negative blamed herself. She got so drunk that Evol had to take over... Negative said it should’ve been her. That if- if Evol didn’t pick up after her, she would have been okay. I told them it wasn’t anyone’s fault. My own, maybe… maybe if I just stayed in my room. If I stayed in my room, I woulda let them in immediately and they wouldn’ta been shocked. I promised them, I promised... I said I’d be there for them. I’d get them through this. We’d get outta here and I’d help them. But I wasn’t there when they needed me most. One of ‘em fuckin’... well, they all died. I failed all of them.” "I’m sorry, Jason,” I said again. “But… you need to tell us what happened. What made them leave, if you know?” “It’s stupid,” Jason looked away from me, scowling. “It was idiotic.” “What was?” His expression softened slightly. “...Xim, she wanted to… I tried telling her everything would be fine. She was strong. She wanted to move past what happened to Evol. But she wasn’t certain of their future. She knew that they were easy prey, that they could be an easy target in this game. With this motive, no less. She wanted to make the most out of it. She said if she was gonna die here, she was gonna die happy…” “She knew she was gonna die?” Cynthia asked him. “No, no. She just wanted to…” he trailed off for a moment. “She wanted to have a hell of a night, knowing it may be her last.” “Jason, I’m still not following,” I said. “What does that have to do with them leaving?” “She and I. We uh… we had sex.” Huh? “You and Xim, you guys…?” Neo dropped the doctor as he held his sides and began to laugh hysterically. “I fuckin’ knew it! Hahaha!” Mindy came up to his side and flicked him on the ear, telling him to behave. Axel looked perplexed at Jason. “Wait, so Jason, you… you fucked a man?” The doctor looked annoyed as he got to his feet. “Gah, it was Xim, not Maven. I mean, yes, physically, whatever. She just wanted a happy night. And hell, I did too. I don’t regret that.” Migrating back to my podium, I noticed Jason hold his head, rub his temples and sigh. “We fell asleep after. At least, I did. I don’t know how long after, but I woke up to a shock. They were gone without a trace. That’s when I found the message and I tried getting back to bed.” Cynthia put a finger to her chin. “Hm, I wonder if they planned to leave your room from the get-go. Why else would Evol steal the lipstick?” “I’ve been thinking of that myself,” Erik started. “By no means do I really believe it was the Forgotten Four Stars, but the one known as Evol was a notorious kleptomaniac. As the rumor goes, a teenage girl matching her physical description was detained by a mall cop after shoplifting; after an hour or so, she just disappeared. From there on, within the confines of the cult, it’s been said that Evol was caught on occasion stealing others’ possessions.” Amy’s shoulders drooped. “So she just wanted my lipstick? She could’ve just asked…” “Let’s not forget about what happened to her,” Vi reminded us. “That shock that turned her dormant, that was basically like killing her, right? If Avery never came back from it then I don’t know why she would. The girls were probably so upset about what happened, they had to leave. Maybe to blow off some steam or something? And they just didn’t want to be followed.” “Wait a minute,” Flatts was deep in thought, listening to the others piece it together before they picked up where Vi left off. “Surely they would’ve known what would happen if they left by themselves. Whoever would be in control of the body at the time another shock came would go dormant, too. So that doesn’t make any sense. Maybe they were trying to meet up with someone else? But who?” “Everyone else was probably asleep by that time, right?” I asked around the room. “A quarter to five and the morning alarm’s at eight. Was anyone up?” The only one to raise their arm was Rae. “You were up, Rae?” I was weary to clarify their claim; the last time they put themselves out there, they nearly got us all killed. Rae laughed at me. “Yeah, duh! You try sleeping through shocks of electricity going off every five minutes.” They turned to Jason. “How about you, doc? You said you went back to bed after you realized they were gone. How’d that go?” Jason also seemed cautious to let Rae lead the conversation. “Yes, I felt a few shocks. Three, I believe. After that, I must have drifted off.” “How?” Rae asked. “I tried doing that and it didn’t work. I’d kill for a little bit of shut-eye right now. Are you a heavy sleeper or something?” Jason thought about the question for a few seconds before answering. “No, not at all. Though, I’m a doctor; I’m used to being up by five. Going to bed so late must’ve exhausted me a lot more than I thought.” “Enough to sleep through those shocks?” I asked him, holding up my lanyard to remind everyone I’m the ‘Ultimate Electrician’. “Those were some high voltage currents traveling through your body, Jason. That’s not something you can just ignore. I couldn’t even do that.” “The shocks must’ve stopped shortly after, then,” Jason trailed off as he grew visibly more worried. “Then that… that would mean… the Stars were dead already.” “They left your room at 4:45,” Rae reminded us. “You felt three shocks, no more. That means the last shock occurred at five in the morning.” Rae paused after that, allowing us to stew on the new information. “A minute or so after then, I realized what must have happened. I wasn’t getting shocked anymore; I didn’t let anyone in, and no one broke into my room. So I figured, this round of the game must have already ended.” Jason grabbed onto his podium for support, staggered by the revelation. “They were gone that soon after leaving my room?” he asked himself. “If I just left and looked for them… I could have saved them,” he began to cry again. Jason… I’m so sorry for what happened to you. I hate putting you through this. I need to approach this from a different angle. “Guys, I’ve been thinking… we know where everyone else was for the most part, right? Neo and Mindy were upstairs, and the rest of us were downstairs. All of us were in the hotel, though. But the murder weapon we found--the scalpel--would have been in the infirmary, in the Showplace. Which means that the killer would have had to go there first of all to get the weapon, but when?” Axel followed my lead. “The cafe boys would’ve had to leave for bathroom breaks, yeah?” He looked at Erik, who nodded. That was something he mentioned to me earlier, having to take brief bathroom breaks during the night. “One of them could have dashed to the infirmary one of those times, grab the scalpel, and wait for some poor sap to stroll on by.” “Wasn’t me, Roid Rage,” Asier defended himself again. “I’m limping as is on my ankle. I couldn’t make a mad dash there. Neither could geriatric Erik, or a drunk Jake Stuart.” Erik took his friend’s name-calling in stride, as he continued the defense. “Yes, and the cafeteria is on the far-end of that first floor hallway. Like Asier said, none of us could have made it there in that time without at least taking one shock, and we’re all clean.” “Yeah, Matt,” Jake turned to me. “And hell, I didn’t even know the infirmary had those kinda tools. Just figured like, pain meds and bed pans and shit.” “Right,” Flatts lingered on Jake’s words. “Small infirmaries like ones at schools and buildings like these wouldn’t typically be fully equipped with surgery tools like that. So no one would just assume we had those here unless they knew for sure. Which… come to think of it, only a handful of us did. After Matt and Avery were shocked that first morning here, Jason took them to the infirmary and some of us tagged along. He was fixing up Neo and Asier after their little spat too. Me and Cynthia were there, as well. Just us seven. As for the autopsies, Axel’s been there as well. So that leads us to eight possible people who could’ve known.” Jason pieced together what Flatts was proposing. “So what you’re saying is… only those eight knew where to get the scalpel and use it for murder. It wasn’t me of course, I never left my room. Nor could it have been Matt, Flatts, Axel, or Cynthia, as they spent the whole night in Matt’s room. Amy’s camera suggests Neo never came downstairs, so it couldn’t have been him either. Which means…” Jason chuckled to himself. “Finally, proof that it was you, Asier.” “You didn’t hear me?” he asked. “I have a bum fuckin’ ankle, Four Eyes. I couldn’t get that shit in that time!” To prove his point, he rolled up his tank top and threw it to the floor. “See? No shocks!” he limped off his podium and began to parade around us, allowing all of us to get a good look at him. He taunted us again, “It wasn’t me, you mindless cucks!” “Then who?” Jason asked. His grin grew wider, seemingly pleased to corner his suspect. “You can keep saying it’s not you, Asier. But you’re the only one it can be.” I surveyed everyone’s reactions while Jason stared down his opponent. Flatts looked deep in thought as they stared upon the spectacle; Axel was cheering to himself, likely proud that his suspicions were justified; Erik was shaking his head but had nothing more to add to his friend’s testimony; I eventually landed on Rae and saw them staring right at me. A blank gaze locking with my eyes. Something’s wrong. This isn’t like them. What are you trying to tell me, Rae? “FUCK OFF LIBTARD!” Asier yelled at the doctor, breaking my concentration. “Admit it already,” Jason demanded. The others’ faces began to look worried about the heated situation. But Rae kept their gaze on me all the same. Then it hit me. God damn it, Rae. “Jason,” I sliced through the argument. “When you were figuring out who would have known about the scalpel, you forgot to account for someone.” The doctor turned to me as one of his eyebrows shot up. “How? Who?” “It was me, you, Flatts, Cynthia, Asier, Neo, Axel… and Avery.” “What are you saying, Matt?” “After the shock, you checked us out in the infirmary. The Stars, they were in there. They could’ve seen that scalpel when you were looking through the drawers.” Flatts leaned in, waving their hand at me to focus back to them. “Matt, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Cynthia gasped. "You think it was a suicide?" Jason gritted his teeth. “Why would they?” "It wasn’t all of them, I don’t think. Just one. One that couldn’t take anymore torment here. Specifically -- if I remember right -- only two of the Stars were conscious in the infirmary. Xim and Negative, ” I looked around and saw some of their jaws dropped, Erik musing with his eyes closed in deep thought, and found Rae again. Their gaze was no longer empty, and I swore I could’ve made out the tiniest smirk on their face. “Erik,” I looked back at the conspiracy theorist. “As the expert, why don’t you tell us more about them?” “Yes, yes. Gladly,” Erik straightened his jacket. "Ximena was speculated to be a straight-A student abducted from her sorority house in the late 80s. In the cult's camp, she was documented as resilient to her captors' orders and punished repeatedly. She would have Evol steal what literature she could find in the campgrounds and bring it back to their cabin; that's where Xim found the blueprints to the abandoned mineshaft in the mountains. She planned the four of them escape one night before they were caught the following morning. In a sacrificial ritual to welcome the birth of the coming Maven -- our dearly beloved Thirteenth -- they were killed one by one. Evol was the first to go, then Ximena, Lucidus, and finally Negative.” “What do you know about Negative?” “She was documented as the least disobedient of the Stars. She was punished less often, and so there was less to write about her. She retained her bond with the other girls -- all victims of the cult’s worst doings -- but wasn’t as noted a fighter against their captors. Perhaps it was Stockholm Syndrome, perhaps she had no faith in ever escaping the cult. But she was initially spared when her sisters were executed before her eyes, and as the documents describe, she charged the sacrificial pyre and burned alive.” I can’t believe this, I thought as I tried to put the pieces together. I was speechless as the others around me did all the work. Mindy gasped. “The original Negative killed herself after the others died...” “Evol.” Flatts blurted out, their eyes wide. “Evol died first, and she went dormant last night,” they turned to Jason, “Doc, Ximena told you that Negative blamed herself for Evol going dormant. She was in shock, losing her friend all over again.” “Does it mean anything?” Cynthia asked. “The Stars were just the personalities of those girls, Avery’s version of them at least. Would they really be so similar to the original girls?” Erik look perturbed, his eyes glazing over some notes he held in his hands. “...It lines up perfectly with the true fate of the Forgotten Four Stars,” he let out a sigh. “That’s no coincidence.” “No,” Jason’s voice broke. He was fuming, tears rolling down his pinched face. “I can’t believe this… I refuse to believe any of this!” “Refuse what?” Rae asked. They were engaged again, and finally prepared to talk. “Refuse to believe what, Jason? That a seriously mentally and physically damaged person didn’t end it all from distress? Nice diagnosis, doc.” “Xim wouldn’t have let it happen!” he spat back. “She wanted to fight, to overcome this!” Rae’s demeanor softened, even giving a sympathetic frown. “Xim did. Not Negative.” “So she killed herself,” I finished. “She was traumatized, and Evol getting shocked brought back those memories. The despair she felt as her friends… her sisters, were brutally slaughtered. All for the cult, no less. Sacrifices for the very man they shared a brain and body with. She just wanted it to be over.” Axel let out a sigh as well. “So when the Stars left Jason’s room, that was Negative going to the infirmary? To get the scalpel?” “The killer was caught on tape,” Amy concluded. “But in killing herself, all she did was kill them again,” Vi said. “Xim and Luci. The three of them were still here, not dormant. Why would she do that to them?” “All of them hated the cult,” Erik shook his head. “All of them wanted to be free, away from it. But it was an ironic, cruel twist of fate; they’re given the freedom of death only to be returned to a Maven. You could say they were hostages, even in death. In a new life, even...” he paused for a few seconds before he put a hand to his face. “All of them hated the cult,” he repeated. “Just like me. God damn it. I should have fucking believed them.” Jake leaned over to look at his compatriot. “Erik, you good, man? You really think it’s true?” "I do,” he confirmed. “I was fucking wrong.” “So that’s what happened,” Asier had a thousand yard stare, pointed at the top of his podium. “When I walked in the gym, the scalpel was right next to their hand. I just thought the killer ditched it for some reason. And all that fuckin’ blood, Jesus Christ. Of course she blamed herself. Those wounds, it’s like you could see the contempt behind them. She musta fuckin’ hated herself for what happened and took it out.” Flatts spoke up again. “Asier brings up a good point about the body, Dr. Cooper. Would you say that the injuries on the body are consistent with a suicide? The placement of the wounds, the angles of the slashes?” Jason shook his head in denial. “The slashes, sure, maybe, but that doesn’t explain the ankles. The severed Achilles’ tendons. You would do that to immobilize a victim, not to commit a suicide.” “She had to immobilize Xim and Luci,” Rae said. “They could’ve fought for control over the body and Negative had to make sure they didn’t go anywhere.” “Guess that would explain all the frantic cuts,” Neo added. “All three of them were fighting over the blade, huh?” “It was a long fight,” Rae gathered. “Long enough for more shocks to come. Each shock sending another into dormancy. I suppose they finally bled out by the third shock.” Jason’s silence was deafening. “Ah, it sounds like everyone is finally on the same page,” HAL’s voice came through the intercom. “It looks like it’s time the jury votes for the blackened. Retrieve your paper and pencils from under the podiums.” Jason stepped off his podium and looked to one of the monitors, displaying HAL’s ominous red eye. “Fuck you.” “My my, doctor. Seek the closure you crave. Writing the correct name will give you justice.” “She’s already fucking dead,” he spat back. “There is no justice. This is pointless. What do you get out of this, huh? Making us deliberate on a fucking suicide case? No one gets punished for it. You can’t carry out another one of your sick, twisted fucking executions. So why the fuck are we eve-''AAGH!!” Jason fell to the floor as he suffered another shock. “Do as I say and you may survive this game,” HAL ordered. “Don’t, and I will personally see to it that you will expire. Write the name of your suspect, my VIPs.” The intercom clicked off. Jason stood up, more red in the face than before. He looked at the monitor and back to us, all watching in fear. Jason groaned with one last look at the monitor. “Do as it says.” He quickly scribbled on the paper and slammed the pencil down on the podium. After we were all finished, the intercom clicked on again. “Thirteen votes for Avery Maven the Thirteenth, and more specifically, Negative Four. All correct. Well done, my VIPs.” “So are we fuckin’ done here?” Axel asked. “No one to execute. Let’s get the hell outta here,” Neo ranted as he turned to leave. “We are not done, no.” HAL spoke. “It is punishment time.” Before any of those of us remaining could completely process HAL's words, I could see the TV he was on flicker away. '''GAME OVER:' AVERY MAVEN THE THIRTEENTH HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY This time, it had shown the scene of the crime, where the body of Avery, or, as we had better come to know them now, The Stars, had come to rest. To our surprise and confusion the same shackle we had once witnessed drag away Jamahl for his final moments had gripped the cult leader like a vice, dragging him away too. Wait, what? Why would HAL be showing us this? Just body disposal? Where was this for Jeffrey then? I glanced around the others, most either as mystified as I or just beside themselves with pity for the situation, for Jason, for the Stars. It wasn't until I had noticed two looks right next to eachother, the haunted gaze of realization from both Flatts and Rae, that I began to have a grasp on what HAL was showing us. As the body loosely tumbled along the ground, staining the ground further, eventually meeting an end in the main hall, I pieced it together, just what we were seeing. Much like Jamahl, it was the fate of the blackened. SPLIT PERSONALITY! Ultimate Cult Leader Avery Maven the Thirteenth's Execution: Executed More and more of those shackles appeared and coiled around the corpse. One attaching to each limb. Five in all counting the one already there. Once attached, all of the chains of the shackles began moving in opposite directions, tearing the already mutilated body open, gushing forth pink and innards like a grotesque piñata. The body of our former companion now in five pieces. Each new shackle dragged away its respective piece. Why? Why would you do this? Was it not enough the "blackened" was already gone? The screen turned to one piece of The Stars in particular; with the words "Evol Love: Ultimate Royal" accompanying it. The limb was flailed about carelessly, electricity coursing throughout the chains and shackles. Eventually, the blood of the piece formed a splatter painting not unlike that of a heart, before the chunk itself was impaled on a crown, not unlike that of what royalty would wear. You... couldn't be serious, HAL, could you? Were you really that heartless to force this upon us. "Xim Thirteen: Ultimate Student" Within an instant I heard the enraged, despair filled protests and cries of Jason, he fruitlessly tried to rush towards the screen and turn it off, only to once more be shocked, sending him to the floor. As this happened, this limb too was flailed about, but with more care and precision. It wasn't until the screen zoomed out I understood why. 'Jason'. This was spelled out in blood before more shocks came to it, and a bookshelf crushed the part of the Stars for good, Jason's shouts of raw emotion echoing throughout us all, nobody able to offer anything to him, or respond. "Lucidus Star: Ultimate Legacy" This time the piece was dragged across the floor, drawing a crude image of a star within a circle. A pentagram. Once more the shocks came. And with it came that of harshly being slammed against said pentagram, splattering thr limb beyond recognition. Why... why force us through this? To show us all this, to kick us down even further. "Negative Four: Ultimate Harlot". This one, much like the piece representing Xim, had been carefully dragged along the surface, eventually spelling out one word; "BYE". The piece was then tied to that of a poll, not unlike one a dancer would perform on. It was then at that point the shockd came, far more intense than they had been in the execution, or on any of us. They surged and surged until what was to represent Negative was little more than a charred mass of flesh tied to a pole. And we couldn't do anything to stop it. We were powerless, a thought best exemplified by Vi's vocal choking back of tears. "Avery Maven: Last of the Mavens" The final piece of the body, the torso and head, were left hanging within the main hall, the horrified final expression of what was once a companion, a friend, was etched on. Then, from nowhere, a knife flew out, the same type Avery had once thrown in our first hours. Then another, and another. More and more soared in, each running through the disheveled, bleeding husk, until there was a count of twelve in total pincushioning the former cult leader. And before anyone had time to ponder why twelve, the answer came in one more object embedding itself directly in the skull. Not a knife, but a familiar bloodied scalpel. The thirteenth blade was the one that ended things in the first place. Why. What was the gain in this cruelty? What... what the fuck was this all for!? As I pondered this, the most powerful shocks yet emerged, only intensified by all the metal in the body. It was intense enough to not only fry the corpse, but make it fully burst open, ending the body for good, as the scene zoomed out, the full carnage on display. I felt as if I was going to be sick, and judging by the heaving I had heard behind me, I was far from alone. Tears uselessly flew from my eyes, as I watched powerlessly, not even able to register Jason's anguished screams. I remembered why all this useless cruelty eas placed upon us. Despair, the feeling we were all slaves to under the rule of HAL. And the powerlessness we had against it. Was hope still existent? Matthew Wonder - The Ultimate Electrician. Asier Cassidy McKass - The Ultimate White Nationalist. Neo Greene - The Ultimate Fanatic. Jamahl Majellan - The UltiMate Sheriff. Axel Wachow - The Ultimate Wrestler. Rae F. Day - The Ultimate Stage Actor. Amy Mitten - The Ultimate Vlogger. Jeffrey Newton - The Ultimate Historian. Cynthia Page - The Ultimate Librarian. Jake Stuart - The Ultimate Television Host. P.N. Flatts - The Ultimate Horror Novelist. Vi Clementine - The Ultimate Voice Actress. Mindy Milton - The Ultimate Christian Missionary. Jason Cooper, M.D. - The Ultimate Doctor. Erik Blut Von Drachen - The Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist. Avery Maven the Thirteenth - The Ultimate Cult Leader. Written by: Amy and Rae. Category:Blog posts